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Hello there, I have a jeweler friend who runs all my bits through his ultrasonic cleaner for me as I don't have one, whilst nice this isn't practical, on the famous bidding site there are many around the £25 mark, my question is are these any good? Does anyone have a recommendation, I don't need large capacity just something that comes recommended and works

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Hello there, I have a jeweler friend who runs all my bits through his ultrasonic cleaner for me as I don't have one, whilst nice this isn't practical, on the famous bidding site there are many around the £25 mark, my question is are these any good? Does anyone have a recommendation, I don't need large capacity just something that comes recommended and works

£30-£35 is about what I paid for mine - they all work, what's more important is the cleaning fluid you use :)

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"The first thing I do when I strip a watch is wash the parts in a container with lighter fuel. This gets rid of most of the oily residue before using the ultrasonic bath. If the movement is really gummed up, I will let the parts soak overnight.

I use a small amount of water soluble “carburettor cleaner” dissolved at a ratio of about 1 part cleaner to10 parts water in the ultrasonic bath. I heat this up to about 30C then clean the parts for 3mins. The parts are then rinsed I fairly hot water and rinsed again in alcohol before being gently blow dried on a clean sheet of good quality kitchen towel.

If I am having real difficulties cleaning the parts (dried oil in jewels) I will put the movement in a jar of lighter fuel and hold the jar in the ultrasonic cleaning solution for three minutes at a time until the jewels are clean. The ultrasonic vibrations penetrate the jar and agitate the lighter fuel. DO NOT PUT LIGHTER FUEL DIRECTLY INTO THE ULTRASONIC CLEANER!!

This maybe conflicts with professional cleaning methods, but it works for me."

Yes it is expensive! But, If you are only cleaning a few watches a week, then this will last you all year!

Don't fill the reservoir with the cleaner, fill it with water. Use a small glass, I bought one that had a screw down lid, and fill it just enough to cover the watch parts a couple of centimeters. Then submerge the glass into the water. Too much water in the reservoir will result is your glass floating around! I added just enough water to be at the same level of the cleaner in the glass jar.

And, there are many fluids that will work very well as cleaners for watch parts, but one thing to note is that cleaning fluids made specifically for watch cleaning usually have a higher Flash Point than other types of cleaning fluids. This is a pretty big safety issue! I have always used the L&R watch cleaners but use to rinse my parts in Denatured Alcohol, or stove fuel. It works brilliantly, but I decided to switch to an actual watch parts rinse since switching over to the Watch Cleaning Machine. It has a Heater/Dryer in it an I got worried that the alcohol would catch on fire!

I now use Zenith DrizeBrite to rinse my parts , but would recommend any dedicated watch rinse...This too will probably last you all year!

And, I must say there is a very noticeable improvement in the appearance of the watch parts after switching to these cleaners and rinses...

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For anyone who has used a simple cleaner that has no heater, to one with a heater, are they worth the extra cost?

I haven't tried the "small glass jar holding the cleaning solution in the cleaner full of plain water", and every time I use the cleaner having to boil a kettle of water, pour some into the cleaner, add some solution and then clean, having the water hot definitely helps but by doing it myself it's a bit hit and miss, and wasteful.

I'm thinking of buying a cheap reasonable one with built in heater. Will be used primarily on older watch and clock parts. I don't expect it to return them to as new condition, but having an option of some form of cleaning fluid that could do that would be extremely helpful.

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For anyone who has used a simple cleaner that has no heater, to one with a heater, are they worth the extra cost?

I haven't tried the "small glass jar holding the cleaning solution in the cleaner full of plain water", and every time I use the cleaner having to boil a kettle of water, pour some into the cleaner, add some solution and then clean, having the water hot definitely helps but by doing it myself it's a bit hit and miss, and wasteful.

I'm thinking of buying a cheap reasonable one with built in heater. Will be used primarily on older watch and clock parts. I don't expect it to return them to as new condition, but having an option of some form of cleaning fluid that could do that would be extremely helpful.

I use a Vintage L & R watch cleaner that has the Ultrasonic cleaning module and a heated dryer and I'm very happy with the outcome. Are you asking if anyone uses a watch cleaner that heats the cleaning solution as it cleans? Or, are you talking about cleaning machines that dry the parts after cleaning?-this is the type I have....

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Could someone please explain the difference between the ammoniated and non-ammoniated ultrasonic cleaners from L&R? Clearly one contains ammonia and the other does not, but what is the difference real world in the cleaning ability? I want to purchase the cleaner and rinse but really want to make the right decision up front as these fluids are not inexpensive. I have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner I will be using these in. Also what is the difference in the rinse solutions "Bright" type and non-bright type?

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Hello to you all, I've been watching you all since mid february and have laughed and seen myself in so many of you( springs flying off, cap jewels in the carpet etc) anyway I want to tell you my method of cleaning and rinsing parts through trial and lots of errors which gives me good results. I bought a small ultrasonic machine about £50 off fleabay.I then bought a fine mesh tray and a couple of small mesh baskets with snap on lids. I generally put the autowind and calendar side parts in one small basket and the gear train and screws in the other, larger parts i.e. spring, plates with balance attached as Mark does, barrel and even the stripped out case lay in the tray. I use Elma 20/1 chrono clean with low or no heat 10 mins shake the small baskets turn plates over and another 10 mins,change the fluid for a rinse, same procedure change fluid for a final rinse, do the same let it all drain then dry it all off in the basket with a hair dryer. Whole process takes about an hour. Really grotty stuff I'll let soak over night as hobbyists we have the luxury of not being in a hurry. I currently use the L&R no 3 rinse which gives great results but needs changing regularly and is expensive so im going to try their ultrasonic and see if that is more economical. I'll let you know!

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If you use L&R #111 to clean, do you need to then run it through L&R #3 for rinsing?

Is the rinsing optional, how crucial it is as part of cleaning watch parts?

Thanks

you really must rinse the parts after cleaning with this type of cleaner. I use this for cleaning and if it is not rinsed off, it will leave an oily film on the parts. I used to use denatured alcohol to rinse after using this cleaner, but switched to a dedicated watch parts rinse as the flash point is higher, meaning it is safer to use in my L&R machine without the greater risk of ignition.

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I have been using for the last year two parts from a 3 part cleaning range from Meadows & Passmore i.e.. the de-greaser and final rinse in my ultrasonic cleaner. I don,t use the heater but just add warm water to the mix and clean for 3 mins. I then dry the parts with a hairdryer.

The results have been good but I have used the last of this cleaner and I don,t know whether I should change to L&R or Elma.

However do these products require water added as the Meadow solutions or are they used neat. I just thinking of the cost implications.

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I have an ultrasonic cleaner and use the seaweed based cleaning fluid. My question is, why do the stainless screws and other stainless parts go black and leave a film of substance relating to fine powder?

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Those of you who use cleaner and rinser solutions using a jewellery ultrasonic like the attached photo (as opposed to specialised watch cleaning machine), do you use two ultrasonic machines, one for a cleaner and the other for rinser? Or you use one ultrasonic, tip the cleaner solution away for the rinser? Thanks

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I used to clean my watches with one ultrasonic clean like this one. I would fill the tank with water, about half full. I would then use a small class jar filled with the cleaner and set it in the water(enough so that the glass would not float). The ultrasonic waves transfer through the water and the glass into the cleaning solution. I would then remove the parts out of the glass jar and then replace the cleaning solution with the rinse. To tell you the truth, I never really ran the parts with the rinse through the ultrasonic cleaner. I would just swirl the rinse around in the jar for a few seconds then remove the parts one at a time and blow them dry with my dust blower.

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I used to clean my watches with one ultrasonic clean like this one. I would fill the tank with water, about half full. I would then use a small class jar filled with the cleaner and set it in the water(enough so that the glass would not float). The ultrasonic waves transfer through the water and the glass into the cleaning solution. I would then remove the parts out of the glass jar and then replace the cleaning solution with the rinse. To tell you the truth, I never really ran the parts with the rinse through the ultrasonic cleaner. I would just swirl the rinse around in the jar for a few seconds then remove the parts one at a time and blow them dry with my dust blower.

I think the superior cleaning and ease of use will make the $1700 not hurt so bad ^_^

I agree with it having superior cleaning and ease of use! One of the biggest benefits to an automatic cleaning machine is the amount of time it save you! It would take me a good hour to clean watch parts before getting my machine. Now, all I have to do is put the parts basket in the machine, hit the start button and go off and do other things that need my attention. It's much easier to justify the cost when you take into account the time you gain as well!

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If the shaft is too long. You can always pack it with these sorts of washers. The large black type in this photo. Its always better to be a bit long than short. Just make sure you have good clearance of the face and the glass.

You could get one of each size from Cousins and by trial and error fit the one best suited. Also a suitable set of hands ordered at the same time would leave a spare complete movement and a repaired clock for less than the ebay item.